The maintaining of a chilled liquid in a cool state has been the object of various devices in the past. These devices have taken various design configurations. The first is an insulated cover which fits over a container which holds the liquid. The insulation retards heat transfer from the walls of the container surrounded by the insulation.
The second-type configuration includes an inner container for receiving a liquid holding container, such as a can or bottle, and an outer container spaced about and away from the inner container. The space between the inner and outer container walls receives and holds either a chilling agent or a heating agent.
A third-type configuration includes an outer container which may be made of insulation or of a rigid thermoplastic material, and an interior cooling container adhered to the inside face of the outer container. This cooling container can take several formats. A first cooling structure is defined by an insert with an inner and an outer wall with a cooling agent contained between. An insulation layer may exist between the outer wall of the insert and the ultimate outer wall of the outer container. The device is intended to receive a liquid holding container, such as a can or a bottle within the cooling insert.
A second cooling sleeve is defined by a flexible insert with plural cooling agent packets each holding a cooling agent. This flexible “blanket” is supported to line the inside wall of the outer container and to again receive a separate insertable liquid holding container, such as a can or a bottle.
A variation on this has been a cup surrounded by a flexible cooling “blanket”, which in turn is surrounded by an insulation “blanket”. With these variations, the insulation blanket is generally held in place by a fastener, which also permits its removal.
A fourth-type configuration includes a rigid double-walled mug with an insertable bottom. A space between the inner and outer wall receives a refrigerant or a chemical gel having chemically loaded freeze crystals. The refrigerant and/pr the chemical gel is charged into the space between the walls through a bottom plug hole. Because of the chemical nature of the freeze substance the inner and outer walls of the mug must be securely attached and permanently sealed at their ends where they meet, proximate the drinking lip of the mug. This requires that the walls of the mug be thick and inflexible (rigid). The bottom is sealed with a plug. These fourth-type configured mugs are usually not dishwasher nor microwave safe.
A drawback of all of the foregoing structures is that they are relatively large and bulky, and it is generally difficult to drink from the can, cup or bottle held in the cooling or heating structure. A further drawback of the foregoing double-walled structures, which are not intended to hold a can, cup or bottle, is that they are also bulky and relatively heavy and may be rendered unusable after being subjected to the heat of a dishwasher or microwave oven.
What is desired is an improvement to these structures which itself is in the shape of a cup, a mug, or a pitcher, and which uses a safe cooling material, such as frozen water.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a cooling beverage container with a chilling structure containing freezable water.
A second objective of this invention is to provide such a container with a chilling insert which insert has been pre-charged and sealed with the cooling material before it is positioned within the container.
Another objective of this invention is to provide the chilling insert with a permanent snap-in capability.
An additional objective of this invention is to provide easy access to the interior of the container for installing the chilling insert.